Past and Present
by Cassie Bones
Summary: Sequel to Bad Timing. A lot of things to do with what happened since the last story as well as the continuation of their lives as all the characters adjust to family life and a few love stories between the kids of Bones as well. Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so anybody who read my last story, knows that this is the sequel to Bad Timing. This story takes place where Bad Timing leaves off...sorta. It's a lot of flashback, but not to things that happened in the show, but things like the wedding of B&B and all that. This story will fast forward a lot at points, so just be warned. Anyways, please ENJOY!**

Chapter One: Marriage Between Two Friends

_The little girl, smiling cutely at all the faces around her, toddled down the aisle, throwing flowers over her head and at the people, while they smiled back and waved and took countless photos of the adorable blue-eyed little girl. _

_Behind her came a baby boy, being carried by and old man, whose smile lit up the whole room, as he walked slowly and languidly down the aisle, following the baby girl towards her father, who stood, grinning, at the end of the aisle. The boy in his arms clutched a white satin pillow and sucked on his fist, and he wore a black suit with a purple satin tie. His eyes where such a rich chocolatey brown that they almost mirrored those of the man carrying him, as well as the man at the end of the aisle. The young girl walking ahead of them wore a snow white dress with a purple ribbon tied around her waist and a matching ribbon in her hair. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and the blue flowers that she threw matched her eyes perfectly, making her look all the more adorable._

_The old man walked with an air of absolute pride, as he carried that baby boy. His chest puffed out and he took long, slow, strides, smiling that oh-so-charming smile that had bagged him the love of his life so many years ago. Now that she was gone, he was more than proud to be here, at his own grandson's wedding, to the woman of _his_ dreams._

_Behind the old man, were two young girls. The older of the two smiled brightly, her eyes glittering with excitement. The younger of the two looked around, curiously, for somebody in particular, smiling brightly when she saw him standing next to the groom, looking so very handsome in his Best Man's tux. She caught his eye and waved to him. He smiled and waved back, blushing a bit as the groom smiled at him and bumped his shoulder. _

_After the girls came an almost mismatched couple. But, only mismatched to the eye, for when they looked at each other, you could just see the love they shared was so great, that nothing could possibly break them apart. The man, who was a few inches shorter than the woman, had crystal blue eyes that shone when he looked at her and a smile that widened when he spotted a little baby girl sitting on the lap of a business-looking woman in the seats surrounding them. The little girl smiled back and waved, her blues eyes matching those of his and her hair black like the woman's. The woman blew a kiss to her, before turning back to the front of the aisle. Her dress was strapless and a deep purple that matched the flower in her hair._

_The woman behind her was dressed identically, but holding the arm of a much younger, smiling, brown-haired man. They seemed to be enjoying themselves as they each waved to their significant others, a young girl who seemed unable to sit still, and a man who seemed to be forcing himself to be attentive, while still checking his cell phone obsessively. The woman smiled at him and shook her head, motioning for him to turn it off. He smiled at her and complied, shoving the phone into his jacket pocket._

_Behind them was a beautiful woman, wearing a long, slender white dress with a purple ribbon tied in a bow at the waist. Her hair was done up in an elegant fashion, a silver tiara nestled on top. Her makeup was done up beautifully, bringing out her light crystal blue eyes. On either side of her were two men. One was much older than she, with eyes that were a much darker shade of blue, and that shined with unshed tears and pride, as he held onto her arm. The other man had deep brown eyes and his eyes shone with the same pride as he smiled at the woman, who smiled back. _

_But the only man that she could see at the moment, was the man standing at the end of the aisle, smiling back at her, with no fear in his eyes, but instead love and complete and total devotion in the deep brown pools. His smile widened when he locked eyes with her and she smiled back, trying to hold back her own happy tears._

_As she reached the end of the aisle, she turned to the older man, kissing his cheek. _

"_I love you." They said to each other, before he took his seat in the front row and she turned to the other man. "I love you, big brother." She said, her voice soft and quavery as he kissed her cheek._

"_Love you, too, baby sister." The man said, proudly. He squeezed her hand once more before taking a seat next to his father._

_Then, the woman turned to the brown-eyed man with the incredibly cocky-yet-charming smile. As soon as their eyes met, it was like electricity. You could practically see the spark, hear the crackle as they locked eyes and smiled lovingly at each other._

_The woman handed her bouquet of daisies, daffodils, and lilacs to the dark-haired woman, who was her Maid of Honor, her eyes never leaving the groom. _

_His eyes never left hers, either. Not even as the priest that stood next to them began to speak._

"_Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join these two souls, Dr. Temperance Daisy Brennan, known by her beloved as 'Bones' and Special Agent Seeley Booth, known as such. If there is anybody with any just cause as to why these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace." The black-haired woman sent out a brutal glare to anybody who so much as coughed, and nobody uttered a single word, but a few people cracked smiles. "Very well, then." The priest said and began to go through the routine, all the while the soon-to-be-married couple gazed lovingly at each other, smiling wider once in a while as if they were sharing telepathic jokes with each other._

_When the priest got to the vows, he had the man, Seeley, go through them first. Then he placed the ring gently on Temperance's finger, looking deep into her eyes and squeezing her hand for much longer than necessary._

_When it came time for Temperance's vows, she smiled adoringly at him, while repeating them, before placing his ring on his finger, and keeping hold on it as the Priest spoke his final words. _

"_I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now kiss the bride."_

_The second the sentence ended, Seeley grabbed Temperance in a passionate embrace, kissing her with all the passion and loved he'd been feeling for so many years, and more. _

"Mommy! Hurry up!" Brennan was startled out of her memories by the voice of her six-year-old daughter, Roxy, who was all dressed up to look like a priest, and even held a Bible in her hands. "You're gonna miss it!"

Brennan smiled at her daughter and placed the picture of hers and Booth's wedding back on the dresser. It was a picture of their first kiss as husband and wife that always made her smile, even now, five years and another child later.

"I'm almost ready." Brennan said, looking in the mirror and adjusting her hair, which she'd put up into a bun and clasping a chunky necklace around her neck that complimented the maroon colored dress she wore. Turning around, she modelled for her daughter. "How do I look?"

"Very pretty, Mommy. Now, come on!" Roxy grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the room and down the stairs, into the living room where the six-year-old had set up rows of chairs and had laid out a bunch of red towels and blankets to look like a church aisle.

At the end of the aisle stood Tony Booth, Brennan's young son, who was only five-years-old and looked adorable in the tux he'd worn for Cam and Alex's wedding a few months ago, where he was, yet again, the ring bearer.

In the rows of chairs sat their 'family' or most of it, at least. There was Angela in the front row, with her young son, Maxwell, on her lap, and a five-months pregnant Cam sat with Alex on one side and Daisy on the other. Daisy had her two-month old daughter, Alexis on her lap, while Sweets, her husband for the last three years, played peek-a-boo with the baby, who was more interested in playing with his mother's hair than in his father's attempts at playing. On the other side of the aisle sat Booth, with their one-year-old daughter, Samantha. Samantha had her mother's light blue eyes and facial structure, but her father's dark brown hair and definitely his smile. She wore a pretty pink dress and a tiny pink matching clip in her hair and showed off her dimples as she giggled at her father, who kept on making faces at her. Next to them sat sixteen-year-old Parker, whose arm was slung over Emma's, Brennan's niece, shoulder. The young couple kept smiling at each other and stealing kisses whenever Russ looked away. Max sat behind them, next to Russ, Amy, and Hayley, who discreetly held the hand of her own boyfriend, whom she had invited to the make-believe wedding.

Hank was nowhere to be seen. He had passed away shortly after Jared and Padme's son, Thomas, was born. But he had died happy, knowing that both his grandsons' had families now that they loved dearly, and who made them happy.

None of the interns, who were now doctors, working at the Jeffersonian themselves, were there. They'd all had things to do with their own families, and they had lab work that needed to be done.

So that just left their immediate family and Brennan was glad. They didn't need to many people to witness this marriage since it was not legitimate and the bride and groom were really just good friends who liked to pretend. Brennan took her seat next to Booth, kissing her baby girl on the cheek, before kissing her husband, and taking the little girl into her own arms, wondering when it was that she became so accustomed to family life that she was willing to sit through a fake, child's wedding with a completely genuine smile on her face.

Her smile only widened when the music began, from a CD on the stereo, being controlled by Booth.

Everybody turned their heads and smiled as Joy Hodgins walked down the aisle, holding her father's hand. Jack was smiling, a tear or two sliding down his cheek. Joy smiled as well, looking straight at Tony, who smiled back, just as brightly.

Joy's black hair was in a ponytail and she wore a white summer dress that flowed as she walked and a dress-up bride's veil on her head. In her hand was a bouquet of fake roses and daffodils that she had gathered from Roxy's play chest.

Once they got down the aisle, Hodgins let go of her hand and leaned down to kiss her cheek, whispering, "I love you, baby girl." In her ear.

"I love you, too, Daddy." Joy replied, before walking the few steps to stand across from Tony, next to her best friend, who held the Bible.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to bring these two souls together in Holy Matrimony." She said, reading expertly from a post-it she'd placed in the Bible, that her father had written for her. Turning the page she saw a bunch of more words that she was two impatient to read. "Nobody objects, right?" she asked and nobody spoke. "Good. So, let's just skip to the good part, then."

Brennan leaned over to Booth. "She is _definitely_ your daughter." She said, smiling.

Booth grinned and bumped her shoulder.

"So, Joy, do you wanna marry my brother, Tony?" Roxy asked.

Joy nodded. "Uh-huh." She said, smiling at him.

"_Why?_" Roxy asked, before being pushed by Tony. "Hey!" Tony shot her a glare and she sighed. "Whatever. Tony, do you wanna marry my best friend, Joy?"

Tony smiled. "Yup."

"Okay. Take out the rings and put them on each other's fingers." Tony and Joy both took out the fake plastic rings they'd gotten from Joy's dress-up chest and placed them on each other's fingers. "Good. You're married now. So you gotta kiss each other."

"Eew!" Tony and Joy said, grimacing, making everybody else laugh. "Can't we just hug?" Tony asked.

Roxy shook her head. "Nope, you gotta kiss, just like Mommy and Daddy did at their wedding and Auntie Cam and Uncle Alex, and Uncle Sweets and Aunt Daisy. _Everybody _kisses when they get married, so you have to, too!"

Joy and Tony looked at each other and shrugged, pursing their lips and leaning in towards each other. As soon as their lips touched there was a flash of light as Angela took a photo. The five-years-olds quickly broke apart and glared at her.

"Mo-om!"

"Aunt Angie!"

Angela smiled sheepishly. "Sorry," she said, shrugging, "couldn't resist!"

**Hahaha! Can't you just see Angela doing this? I certainly can. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please REVIEW!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so it's been a few days since I started writing this story, but Player's club just started at my school and after dancing for two hours all I wanted to do was eat dinner and go to bed, which is basically all I did last night and now I'm feeling good an refreshed. Anyways, please enjoy!**

Chapter Two: Delphi

_Brennan walked into her office, followed by two large interns carrying a cage with the dog that had murdered the veterinarian. _

"_Where should we put him?" one of them asked._

_Brennan turned to them from behind her desk and pointed to the area just inside her door where there was a large space. "Just put him down there."_

_The men nodded and gently lowered the cage down to the ground, barely stirring the lazy dog inside, before turning and exiting the office._

_Brennan sat down at her desk and opened her laptop, beginning to look through all of the pictures taken of the dogs, until she came to one of the dog that was currently sitting in the cage in her office. He had quite a few injuries all over his body, as she could see. All of them were stitched exactly the same way, which she found quite odd._

_Her thoughts were interrupted by a long whine from the dog in question._

_She looked over to him, to see him look up at her with his big, sad, brown eyes, and his tail wagging lightly at her attention._

_Brennan felt a surge of sympathy for the poor animal. Even though he had caused the death of a human being, he had gone through so much pain himself. _

_She suddenly felt guilty for keeping him in that cage. After all, it wasn't like he was such a bad dog. It's not like he wanted to kill the vet. He had been ordered by his master to kill the doctor, and did it only to please him or her. Brennan stood abruptly and walked straight over to the cage, causing the sad animal to perk up._

"_Now," she said, "I'm going to let you out, but I must warn you that if you try to attack me, there will be dire consequences….for you, I mean." She unlocked the door to the cage and the dog inched forward until his head was nestled in her lap and he was looking up at her with his big, brown eyes. Brennan smiled softly and pet his head gently. The dog appreciated the movement and lifted his head so that he could lick her hand in thanks._

_Brennan smiled and stood up, allowing the dog to stand up as well. "Sit." She commanded and he sat, obediently. "Stay." She said firmly as she moved over to her desk, taking her laptop and bringing it over to the couch, setting it up on the arm of the sofa. When she was completely situated, she pat the cushion next to her. "Come." She ordered and the dog trotted happily to her side, stretching himself out on the sofa as he laid his head in her lap, once more._

_Brennan smiled and draped her arm over him, absently scratching his head, soothingly, as she looked through the photos of all the dogs and of the crime scene._

"Mommy!" three-and-a half year old Roxy shouted as she noticed her mother spacing out.

Brennan shook her head. "Huh?" she said, looking across the table, where her daughter sat, eating breakfast. "I'm sorry, Rox, what did you say?"

"I asked if we could please, please, _please_, get a puppy. _Please_?" Roxy asked, clasping her hands together and giving her mother a pleading look.

Brennan sighed. "I don't know, Roxy. A dog is a big responsibility and I don't know that you're ready…"

"Yes I am!" Roxy argued. "I can take care of a puppy! Joy takes care of hers and she's only two. I'm three! Please, Mommy."

Brennan sighed again. _Damn it, Angela. _She thought. Angela and Jack had gotten their daughter, Joy, a puppy recently. However, their puppy has been taken care of by a maid and not really by Joy, though Joy had attempted to feed the Great Dane, who they named Runt, ironically, numerous times, always giving him too much or too little to eat. _Why couldn't they have gotten a pet that was a little easier for a small child to care for…like a fish. Or a __rock._

"I don't know, Roxy. We'll have to talk to Daddy about this." As if on cue, Booth showed up in the doorway, holding a very cranky Tony in his arms.

"Talk to Daddy about what?" Booth asked, struggling to keep Tony still as he attempted to button his shirt with the little boy in the crook of his arm. "Bones, could you take Tony for me? I'm trying to finish getting changed."

Brennan nodded and took Tony into her arms, rocking him a little to soothe him before depositing him in his high chair, and pouring some cheerios on his plate, which he slowly began to eat.

Roxy smiled widely when she saw her father, and she ran to wrap her arms around his legs. "Morning, Daddy!" she said, smiling up at him, her blue eyes sparkling.

Booth grinned at her, buttoning the last button on his shirt before hoisting her into his arms. "Good morning, Daffy Duck!" he said, kissing her forehead.

"Daddy, do you know what would make me _really_ happy?" she asked, sweetly.

Booth smiled softly back, absolutely melting at the sight of her smile, making Brennan grin at how easily he could go from aggravated to soft in a matter of seconds, just by seeing his little girl's smile. "What's that, Peanut?" he asked.

"A puppy!" Roxy exclaimed.

Booth's eyes widened. "A puppy? You mean like a yappy, energetic, mess-maker?"

Roxy nodded. "_Please_, Daddy? I _really _want one. I'll take care of it and everything! Joy has one! Please?"

Booth sighed. "I dunno, Daff." He turned to Brennan. "Bones, what do you think?"

Brennan shrugged. "I don't know, Booth. I don't know if they're old enough yet."

"But Joy is two and she has a puppy! I'm three now!" Roxy held up three fingers. "I can handle a little puppy. _PLEASE_?" She looked up into her father's eyes, hers becoming watery.

Booth furrowed his brow and grimaced, looking over at Brennan for help. Brennan shrugged and turned her attention to Tony, trying to hide her smirk.

Booth looked back into the big blue eyes of his baby girl and sighed. "I guess we can go over to the shelter this weekend and see what they have. Maybe they have a fully trained dog that will take care of itself." Roxy squealed and hugged her father's neck.

"Thank you, Daddy!" she said, before Booth put her back down to finish getting ready for Day Care and him for work.

Roxy practically skipped towards the living room to get her things together as Brennan stood up and walked over to Booth, helping him with his tie. "I can't believe you said, 'Yes.'" She said, chuckling as she straightened his tie.

"I said, 'maybe.'" Booth argued, putting his arms around her waist.

Brennan shook her head. "No, no. Trust me," she pecked his lips, "you said, 'yes.'"

-BONES-

Come Saturday, Booth and Brennan were standing in the center of the D.C. Animal Shelter, dogs in cages all around them.

Booth had Roxy on his hip and her eyes were big as she looked at all the dogs around her. "Oooh!" she said, her eyes twinkling, "Look at all the puppies!"

Tony, who was hanging on Brennan's waist, and in a considerably better mood than a few days, smiled. "Doggies!" he exclaimed, his big brown eyes widening as he saw and heard all the different breeds of dogs available in the Shelter.

"Excuse me?" Booth said to a passing worker. "We're considering adopting a dog. Do you have any breeds that are good with kids, affectionate, and clean up after themselves." Brennan elbowed him in the ribs for that last one.

"What my husband means is are there any good family dogs?" Brennan asked politely.

The woman smiled. "Of course. In fact, one of our more popular breeding dogs, Lucy, just gave birth to a litter of puppies that are now ready to be taken home to families. Follow me."

Brennan and Booth followed to woman to a back room, where there were pens set up with nursing mothers and their pups. Once they reached the back, Brennan smiled at the small display of playful pups, tumbling around the pen with each other and yipping playfully.

One pup, in particular caught her eye. The puppy was of mixed breed, Brennan could tell. She seemed mostly German Shepherd, but there were certain features, like her crystal blue eyes, that suggested also part Siberian Husky.

"Excuse me?" she said. "Can we see that one?" She pointed to the puppy, a calm female watching two of her brothers wrestle each other.

The woman nodded and picked the puppy up, gently. "This is the only female in the litter, and, surprisingly, one of the only puppies who hasn't been reserved."

"Reserved?" Booth asked.

"Some breeders come in the week the puppies are born to reserve them. They use this breed as Police dogs or Service dogs and they usually pick the males. Though some females are chosen to breed with other dogs. I'm surprised nobody reserved her. Usually the females are the first to go."

Brennan pat the puppy on the head, gently, and the puppy lifted her face to lick her hand, and Brennan felt a surge of warmth at the memory of Ripley, the last dog she had grown an affection to that had to be put down for killing a person. "She's very affectionate." she commented, taking her hand away to let Roxy pet her. Roxy reached out hesitantly and the puppy began to wag her tail and lick her entire arm, moving quickly to her face, making Roxy giggle.

"I like her!" Roxy giggled, as Booth pulled her out of reach.

Booth grinned at the little puppy as he ran a gentle hand down her back, scratching slightly. The puppy let out a yip and her tail wagged furiously as she tried to turn in the worker's arms to better reach him.

Tony reached out for the puppy and began to pat her roughly, earning a couple of whines from the puppy, but she stayed calm, not biting like any other dog might when treated so roughly.

"She's _very_ well-behaved for such a young pup."

The woman nodded. "Yes, she's one of our more mellow pups. She'll get pretty playful sometimes but she'll rarely get to the point of nipping. She rarely bites any of her brothers."

"Can we take her home, Daddy?" Roxy asked, giving her dad the patented Booth charm smile.

Booth looked to Brennan for help. As much as he liked this dog and wanted to make his little girl happy, he wasn't looking forward to cleaning up after her. Brennan raised her eyebrows and nodded slightly. Booth sighed. "What are we gonna name her?" he asked and Roxy cheered, squeezing his neck.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" she exclaimed, kissing his cheek. She turned back to the puppy, and contemplated her for a second. "Delphinus!" she decided.

"Delphinus? But, baby, Delphinus is a constellation. Not a name." Brennan said, though she liked the name as well, remembering the bond she shared with her mother over the specific constellation.

"Well, it is now!" Roxy said, patting the dog again. "Welcome to the family, Delphi!"

Brennan chuckled. "Delphi is a place in Greece, Honey."

"I know, but it's also a nickname, like Roxy or Daffy..."

"Or Bones." Booth chimed in, draping an arm around Brennan's shoulder.

"Yeah!" Roxy said.

Brennan sighed and shook her head. "Fine. Delphi it is then."

**I hope y'all liked this one. I was going over names in my head and Delphinus sounded so _right_, especially if it's Brennan's dog. Anyways, please REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 3

**New chapter! Enjoy!**

Chapter Three: Fight

"_Tempe, I don't know why you're mad at me!" Angela exclaimed, frustrated with her friend's unwillingness to even look at her that day._

"_I'm _not_ mad at you, Ange. What would make you say that?" Brennan replied, curtly, refusing to meet Angela's eye._

_Angela crossed her arms. "Well, for one thing, you completely skipped out on lunch with me today."_

"_I had work to do." Brennan replied, her eyes fixed on her computer screen._

"_But you could have at least _called_ to let me know you weren't coming!" Angela exclaimed. "I waited for like half an hour! I could have spent that time with my baby boy, but I spent it waiting on you at the Diner!"_

"_I'm sorry, Ange, but we're working on a new case. Lunch must have just slipped my mind." Brennan said, still refusing to look at Angela._

"_But that doesn't explain why you've been avoiding me all day, Sweetie. Come on," her voice softened, "tell me what's wrong."_

_Brennan looked up into Angela's eyes, a tear falling down her cheek. "Booth and I got into a fight."_

_Angela's eyes widened. "You and Booth? A fight? That's what this is about? Sweetie, you two have gotten into plenty of fights before. I'm sure you'll get over this one..."_

_Brennan shook her head and wiped her cheeks. "I'm not so sure, Ange. He seemed really angry this time."_

_Angela walked over to Brennan and put her arm around her shoulders, soothingly. "Well, what was the fight about?"_

"_I don't even remember how it started. But it ended with me calling him a drunk. But, Ange, I didn't mean it! It just slipped out, before I could stop it! I was just angry that he had gotten home late, because... I don't even remember why now!" Brennan turned her chair and buried her face in her friend's stomach. "Now, he won't even _speak_ to me!"_

_Angela kneeled down and hugged her friend tightly. "Shh, it's okay, Sweetie. Everything will be alright. Do you know exactly why he was home late or even why you called him a drunk?"_

_Brennan nodded. "He was at the bar with Sweets and Jared, having a 'boy's night out' and he came home very very drunk and he was being really loud. He woke up Tony and Roxy!"_

_Angela nodded in understanding. "So that's how it began." she said._

_Brennan nodded. "I think so, but I think I was also angry at him for something else. I just can't remember what it is."_

"_When was the fight? Last night?" Angela asked._

_Brennan nodded. "Yes." She sniffed. "Around midnight, last night."_

_Angela caught a glimpse at Brennan's desk calendar, which was covered by drawing of dinosaurs and other childish things that she supposed Roxy and Tony had drawn last time they were there. She scanned the calendar until she found yesterday's date. Underneath the drawing of what looked to be a purple blob with a yellow horn, Angela could see a heart penciled in with the word 'Anniversary' in it. "Oh no..."_

_Brennan leaned back. "What?" she asked._

"_Sweetie, last night was your anniversary." Angela said, a grim look on her face._

_Brennan's eyes widened and she looked at the calendar in shock. "No! It couldn't be!" She scanned the calendar, finding the date and grimacing. "I can't believe we both forgot!"_

"_But, Sweetie, you didn't forget. That's why you were mad at him, wasn't it?" Angela asked._

"_But, Ange, I didn't even _know_ why I was mad at him. I guess, subconsciously I remembered some special event yesterday, but I couldn't place it. I was probably just annoyed at myself for not being able to remember it." Brennan groaned. "Now, what am I going to do."_

"_You have to sit Booth down and apologize to him, explain that it was a mistake." Angela said._

_Brennan shook her head. "It wouldn't erase the fact that I called him a drunk, Ange. Besides, I haven't even spoken to Booth since last night."_

"_Sweetie, trust me, that man loves you. If you're willing to explain something to him and say you're sorry, he'll listen. And I'm sure he'll forgive the little slip of the tongue remark, as long as he knows you didn't truly mean it. And trust me, he knows."_

"_How do you know?" Brennan asked._

_Angela nodded towards the door and Brennan turned, her eyes widening at the sight of Booth standing in the doorway, a box of chocolates in one hand and a large teddy bear in the other, that said, 'I'm sorry!' on its tummy._

_Brennan felt new tears form in her eyes, while her face threatened to break into a smile at the sight of the teddy bear. "Booth." she said, keeping her face straight, while she greeted him._

"_Hey," he said, sheepishly. "Can we talk?" He glanced at Angela. "In private?"_

_Angela immediately got the message and hugged her best friend one last time, before standing up, and kissing her forehead. "I'll be in my office if you need me, Sweetie."_

_Brennan nodded and Angela walked past Booth to exit the office. Booth turned and shut the door behind her, before turning back to Brennan, who was already on her feet, walking towards him. _

_Booth held the candy and stuffed animal out to her and she took them. "Those are for you. I'm sorry I missed our Anniversary and then came home drunk. I don't know what the hell I was thinking, Bones."_

_Brennan nodded, before throwing the chocolates and teddy bear aside and launching herself into his arms, burying her head into his chest, tears falling onto his suit jacket. Booth instantly wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her. Brennan mumbled something incoherent into his chest, that he didn't quite catch._

"_What'd you say, Bones?" he asked, holding her face in his hands, using his thumbs to wipe the tears from her cheeks._

"_I said, 'I'm so sorry I called you a drunk.' I was just so mad at you and I didn't know why." _

"_Bones, we already established that I forgot our anniversary and-"_

"_That's not why I was mad. I forgot, too. But, subconsciously, I knew that there was this big event and I was annoyed at myself for not remembering and I guess I aimed that anger at you and-I'm so sorry. That doesn't give me the right to have called you what I did."_

_Booth wrapped his arms around her again. "It's okay, Bones. I know you didn't mean it. I was just mad about being attacked when I got home, with no explanation. Besides, I _was_ being a drunk. I was just so out of it yesterday, with the stress from this case, and my brother's constant yammering about how I'm such a wimp when it comes to you, and-"_

"_How _you're_ such a wimp? Is this the same man that we saw carrying his wife around on his back, literally, when she said her feet were tired, last month, while we were hiking?" Brennan asked, grinning._

_Booth chuckled. "I know, right? That's what I said, but Jared just ignored me and kept pouring shots for us. Sweets was hammered, though. I don't know how the poor kid explained that to Daisy." _

_Brennan chuckled and rested her nose on Booth's neck, nuzzling him. "I'm still very sorry, Booth. I shouldn't have called you a drunk. You don't deserve that, no matter what you do."_

"_It's really okay, Bones. I shouldn't have come home so late last night. Or any night, really. I should have been home, spending time with you and the kids, not waking them up."_

"_They were fine. You know Roxy, she could go to sleep during a baseball game, and Tony thought it was all a dream, anyway." _

"_Still," Booth said, "I shouldn't have done it, and I promise, it will never happen again." He rested his forehead against hers and leaned in a little to kiss her. Brennan smiled and deepened the kiss, happy to finally have everything back to normal._

"Mommy!" Roxy shouted, coming towards Brennan, at full speed, tears in her eyes as she launched herself into her arms.

Brennan's face immediately became concerned as she picked up her crying little girl. "What happened, baby?" she asked.

"Joy called me four-eyes!" she said, sobbing into her mother's chest.

Brennan furrowed her brow. That didn't sound like Joy Hodgins at all. "Why would she do that?" she asked.

"Because of these things!" Roxy said, pointing at her new eyeglasses, and tearing them off her face, throwing them down to the, thankfully, carpeted ground.

"Roxy, I'm sure there has to be some sort of understanding here. Joy would never call you a name to upset you." Brennan tried to rationalize, but inside she was sort of feeling a motherly annoyance at Joy. How dare she make fun of her daughter's insecurity! Even if she was only four years old.

"Yes, she did! She said I had four eyes!" Roxy sobbed.

"There must be some kind of misunderstanding. Joy!" Brennan called, int the direction of the stairs, where Roxy had just come from. "Can you come here, please?"

Four-year old Joy Hodgins, looked sheepishly around the corner, before walking towards Brennan, her head hung low and her shoulders hunched. Delphi walked at her side, curious at to what was happening.

"Yes, Aunt Tempe?" Joy asked in a small voice.

Brennan kneeled down, placing Roxy on the ground beside her, motioning for Joy to come forward. "Did you make fun of Roxy's glasses?"

Joy gave her a confused look and shook her head, fervently. "No. All I said was she looks like she has four eyes! But I didn't mean it to make her sad! I would never make fun of Roxy!"

Brennan nodded in understanding and turned to Roxy. "You see, Baby, Joy wasn't making fun of you. She was just voicing an observation."

Roxy wiped away her tears and looked at Joy. "Is that true?" she asked, and Joy nodded.

"Of course! I would _never_ make fun of you! You're my best friend!" Joy exclaimed.

Roxy smiled and hugged her tightly. "I believe you." she said. "But, please, don't talk about my glasses. I really don't like them."

Joy nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

Brennan smiled at the little girls. They looked so much like little versions of herself and Angela, except for Joy's blue eyes that completely contrasted Angela's brown ones.

"Is everything okay now?" Brennan asked, leaning down to pick up Roxy's glasses and nestling them on her daughter's nose.

Roxy and Joy both nodded. "I still don't like these things." Roxy said, meaning her glasses.

Brennan sighed and reached over towards the coffee table where her own reading glasses were resting atop the book she was currently reading. She slipped the glasses on her own nose. "Is that better?" she asked. "Now we both have glasses on."

Roxy smiled and hugged her mother tightly.

Joy looked from Brennan to Roxy, before running out of the room, causing them to look at each other. They were about to go after her when she came down with her own sunglasses, the lenses popped out so they looked like real glasses.

Brennan and Roxy smiled when they saw her. "Now, we all have glasses!" she exclaimed and Roxy laughed, throwing her arms around her best friend in a tight hug.

Brennan smiled at them and stood up. "You girls wanna watch a movie?" she asked.

The girls nodded and Brennan led them into the living room, Delphi at their heels.

-BONES-

"Honey! I'm home!" Booth called out as he walked through the door.

"We're in the living room!" Brennan called back. Booth smiled and walked to the living room, smiling when he saw his wife cuddled on the couch with Roxy and Joy, all covered by a blanket and Delphi stretched across their laps. As soon as Delphi saw him, though, she jumped right off the couch, towards him, sitting at his feet, obediently, as he leaned down to pat her head. "Hey, Delphi!" he said affectionately. Delphi licked his hand and her tail wagged enthusiastically.

Booth looked up at the girls, smiling when he noticed that they were all wearing glasses. "Hey, twelve-eyes, what's up?" He said, chuckling.

Brennan, Roxy, and Joy all looked up, shooting daggers at him with their eyes. "What?" Booth asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious, "What's I say?"

**Haha! Oh, Booth! Always putting his foot in his mouth! Anyways, how does everybody feel about last night's episode? I, for one, am ecstatic! HANNAH IS GONE! YESSSSSS! I've been waiting for this since episode ONE! The only bad part is Booth's feelings of rejection =(. Oh well, things should get better from here...hopefully. Please REVIEW!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Update!**

Chapter Four: Fun House

"_Come on, Daddy!" Four-year-old Seeley Booth whined as he pulled o n his father's hand, dragging him towards the Halloween Fun House._

_Seeley was dressed as a soldier and his father, Joseph Booth, was dressed as a hobo, complete with the bottle of beer wrapped up in a paper bag in his left hand._

"_Relax, Seeley!" Joseph boomed. "I'm following you! Just go ahead!"_

_Joseph had no patience for this tonight. He'd been dragged out of a poker game with his old army buddies to take out a four-year-old who, instead of going trick-or-treating, wanted to drag him to a kid's carnival thrown at the local elementary school. They'd already been to six rides in the last hour and were now on their last one, the Fun House._

_Joseph sighed as he stepped up to the fun house with his son, taking another swig of beer. Seeley stood there looking up at the giant clown head above the entrance, that seemed to be mocking him, with its evil glare. "Well," Joseph said, losing patience, "What are you waiting for? Get on with it already so we can leave!"_

_Seeley looked to his father, fear evident in his eyes. "Can you go with me?" he asked, his voice shaking._

_Joseph glared at him. "Are you nuts? I'm not going in there! All I wanna do is get outta here! Now go!" Joseph pushed Seeley towards the entrance and Seeley stumbled forward, onto his knees. _

_Looking up at the clown head, Seeley took a deep breath and stood up, handing the man at the toll his last ticket, and waving to his father before stepping inside._

_Once he stepped through the door, all light seemed to vanish, except for a glowing red light, showing him the way through the house. _

_Seeley stepped forward, following the red light, but stopping short when he felt something grab onto his ankle. He looked down and screamed shrilly when he saw a disembodied hand grabbing at his ankle. _

_Shaking his foot loose he ran towards the light, screaming and gasping as mannequins dressed as all sorts of spooky monsters jumped out at him and screaming when a fully dressed clown jumped in front of him. Seeley fell back on his behind and began breathing heavily. The clown's mask immediately came off, revealing a young man with a concerned expression._

_The man leaned down, placing a hand on Seeley's shoulder. "Hey, kid, you okay?" he asked, nicely, but Seeley shook his head, backing away before he stood up and ran as fast as he could towards the exit, tears streaming down his cheek as he burst from the Fun House, breathing heavily and looking around frantically for his father._

_When he spotted his father he ran straight to him, throwing his arms around his waist, sobbing heavily as he squeezed him. _

_Joseph almost immediately pushed him off, causing Seeley to fall to the ground. "What the hell is the matter with you?" Joseph boomed at his son. "It's just a frickin' Fun House! You gotta stop being a baby and man up, Seeley! Now, come on! Let's get outta here!" Without waiting for Seeley, Joseph turned on his heel and began walking towards the exit._

_With tears streaming down his cheeks, Seeley stood up and jogged to catch up with his father, his head hanging low as he did._

"Daddy?" Tony said, tugging his father's hand. "Can you come in with me?"

Booth looked down at his five-year-old son, dressed as an FBI Agent, holding onto his hand for dear life as they approached the Fun House the Jeffersonian had set up for Halloween. He looked ahead at where his daughter, Roxy, was already waiting in line with Joy Hodgins. The girls giggled at the large, laughing clown head. Roxy, it seemed, did not inherit his fear of clowns. Booth looked over to where Brennan and Angela stood, with their youngest children, Samantha, who was dressed as a black puppy, and Maxwell, dressed as a lion. The two toddlers were pulling at their mothers' hair. Brennan had hers in braids as she was dressed as Dorothy and Angela had hers down, under her witch hat, as she was the Wicked Witch of the West. Booth, himself, was dressed at the Scarecrow, and Hodgins was dressed as the Tin Man. The two little girls, Roxy and Joy, were dressed as a mummy and a vampiress.

Booth was reluctant to go into the Fun House because of the giant clown's head but one look at his terrified son, and he saw himself, at Tony's age, terrified of what lay inside the spooky child's ride.

Booth took a deep breath and clasped his son's hand. "Of course I'm going with you, Buddy." he said, smiling. Tony smiled back and hugged his father's knees, before leading him to stand in line with the girls, who were about to go in, each holding tightly to the other's hand.

**I hope you liked this one! Please REVIEW!**


	5. Chapter 5

**New update! Please enjoy!**

Chapter Five: Bedtime Stories

_Christine Brennan lay on her bed, exhausted after a particularly long day at work. All she wanted to do now was relax in bed until her husband, Matthew, came up to relax with her._

_Christine closed her eyes and rolled onto her side, willing herself to relax and drift off. She was just about to, too, when she heard a small voice next to the bed. _

"_Mommy. Can you read us a story?" her eight-year old son, Russ, asked her, handing her a book, while her four-year-old daughter, Tempe, climbed up onto the bed next to her._

"_I don't know, Baby." Christine replied, "Mommy's really tired tonight."_

"_Please, Mommy?" Tempe asked, crawling into her lap and looking at her straight in the eyes, pouting._

_Christine sighed as she looked into those big, blue eyes. She could never resist those eyes when they were looking at her so expectantly, reminding her of when she was little. She took a deep breath. "Alright, what book did you have in mind?"_

_Russ and Tempe smiled and showed her the book. "To Kill a Mockingbird? Isn't this a bit of a grown-up book? Wouldn't you rather me read you something a bit more fun...and shorter, like The Cat in the Hat?"_

_Russ shook his head. "Uh-uh. My teacher said that this book was a classic. But, I can't read it very well by myself. And Tempe wants to listen."_

_Tempe nodded. Christine sighed. "Fine." Pulling Tempe to sit with her back touching her chest, she patted the space next to her, and Russ moved there. "You guys comfortable?" Tempe and Russ nodded and Christine opened the fairly new copy of To Kill a Mockingbird to the first page and began to read. "When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow..." _

Seeley Booth sighed as he stepped through the door of his eerily quiet home on the dark Friday night. He'd been working late and was exhausted from all the paperwork he'd had to do, alone, since Brennan was home, chaperoning a slumber party between Tony, Roxie, Joy, Max, and Samantha. Hodgins and Angela had just had their third child, another girl they named Celia, a female variation of Seeley, and they were spending the next two days in the hospital until they could come home.

Booth walked past the kitchen, where he assumed Brennan had left him some dinner, most likely pizza, which he was not in the mood for, and upstairs towards his bedroom, hoping beyond hope that all the kids were sound asleep or at least being very, very quiet so that he could get some peace and quiet to fall asleep to.

He got his wish, sort of, when he walked into his room to see a very pregnant Brennan sleeping on their bed, with the kids all around her, and an old worn-out book in her hands. Seven-year old Tony lay on one side of the King-sized bed, with three-year old Max curled into his side, while Roxie and Joy lay on Brennan's right, Roxie's head on her shoulder and Joy's head on her stomach, her arm slung over her waist as she drooled on her, snoring like a chainsaw. Samantha lay on Brennan's other side, between her and Tony, with her head resting on her mother's chest. At the end of the bed, Delphi lay, her head on Brennan's legs, as if protecting her.

Despite his exhaustion, Booth smiled, walking over to the side of the bed, holding onto the wall and leaning over to kiss Brennan's forehead. Brennan smiled softly in her sleep and leaned into the kiss, making Booth's smile widen. He carefully stood straight and took the book from atop her tummy, reading the cover.

"_To Kill a Mockingbird?_" Booth questioned to himself, confused as to why she was reading such a difficult book to such young children, but then he remembered what she once told him about her mother reading it to her and Russ when they were young and smiled to himself, happy that she was sharing something so important from her own childhood with their kids.

**REVIEW!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Update! Enjoy!**

Chapter Six: New Baby

"_Mommy, look!" Four-year old Seeley Booth exclaimed, showing his mother the finger painting he'd completed at Pre-school. Lynne Booth, however, was otherwise occupied with her younger son, a newborn baby boy she'd named Jared, who was being very fussy and refusing his bottle, whimpering as he pushed it away._

"_Not now, Seeley." She said, brushing the little boy off as she walked past him, rocking Jared in her arms and humming a sweet song into his ear to calm him down. _

_Seeley looked dejectedly after his mother and sighed, putting the painting down on the kitchen table and making his way towards the living room where his father sat, drinking his afternoon beer on the couch, the channel turned to some sports game Seeley had trouble identifying._

"_Whaddaya watchin', Pop?" Seeley asked, and his father turned to him with a slight scowl._

"_Basketball." He grumbled._

"_Oh." Seeley said, watching as a tall, dark-skinned man throw a large orange ball and it went through the rim almost ten yards away._

"_Whoa!" Seeley exclaimed. "How'd he do that?"_

"_Dunno." Joseph grumbled. "Now, shut it! I'm trying to watch."_

_Seeley did as his father told him, recognizing that his father wasn't to be bothered when he was drinking. Or any time, really._

_Seeley watched the game for a half hour more, not quite understanding the rules but hearing a few new words from his father, repeatedly and occasionally getting him a new beer from the fridge, before he finally got bored of the game and stood up, wandering in the direction of the stairs. _

_When he got to the second floor he started toward his room, but stopped short when he heard his mother's voice coming from his parents' room._

_Seeley cautiously poked his head into the room, watching as his mother moved fluidly around the room, singing softly as she went through the baby's clothes, looking for his pajamas as Jared lay on her bed, obviously relaxed._

_Seeley stepped into the room, moving towards his mother, quietly, before gently placing his arms around her waist in a hug. "Hi, Mommy." he whispered, startling Lynne Booth._

"_Oh! Hello, Seeley sweetie." she said, hugging him back. "I didn't hear you come in, baby."_

_Seeley smiled up at her with his little-boy smile and wide brown eyes before he turned his head towards Jared, who'd begun whimpering again. He tentatively took a few steps towards the bed, until he was within reach of the squishy-looking baby. Seeley reached out his hand and Jared took his finger, shaking it slightly._

_Seeley smiled and stepped as close as he could, smiling at his baby brother. "Hello, Jared. Do you remember me? I'm your big brother. My name is Seeley."_

_Lynne smiled and stepped behind him, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "Do you wanna hold him?"_

_Seeley nodded enthusiastically and Lynne smiled, lifting the little boy up onto the bed, careful no to disturb the finally calm Jared. She placed Seeley in the middle of the bed and set up pillows to support his arms, before gently handing over Jared. _

"_Watch his head." she warned and Seeley nodded, supporting the baby's head with his elbow, gently._

_Seeley looked down at the baby, fondly, smiling impossibly wide, and Lynne smiled as well, before rushing off to find the camera. She wasn't out of the room ten seconds when she heard Seeley's surprised gasp and Jared's loud cry._

_Grabbing the camera, she rushed back into the room, where Seeley still sat on the bed with a disgusted look on his face as he looked down at his crying baby brother, still in his arms, screaming at the top of his lungs._

"_What happened?" Lynne asked, in worry._

"_He peed on me!" Seeley whined and Lynne burst out laughing, snapping a couple shots of her son's disgusted face as he whined at her._

Booth looked lovingly at his wife, who sat on the bed with their now two-month old son, Thomas Seeley Booth, nicknamed Tommy. Brennan was feeding him a bottle while the baby's older siblings looked on. Ten-year old Roxy and nine-year old Tony looked thrilled to have a baby brother, while five-year old Samantha didn't look so excited, sitting cross-legged at the end of the bed, with a permanent pout on her face.

Booth grinned. She looked exactly like her mother, from her crystal blue eyes and auburn colored hair, to her adorable puppy dog pout. Booth stepped up to the bed and picked the little girl up, earning a small squeak from the tiny-framed girl.

Booth lifted her above his head and smiled up at her as she giggled. "What's the matter, Sammie?" he asked. Bringing her back down to lean on his chest while he supported her with his arms under her bottom.

"Nothin'..." she said, looking down.

_She's a terrible liar, too. _Booth thought, lifting her chin with one finger so that he could look into those big blue eyes of hers. "Come on, Sammie, tell me what's bothering you." He urged gently.

Samantha sighed. "Mommy forgot about me." she said, a slight quiver in her voice.

Booth frowned. "What do you mean? Mommy could never forget about you. Your her little Samantha."

"But, she did. Ever since Tommy was born, she's been spending so much time with him. She hasn't read us a story in, like, _forever._ I miss her." Booth's heart broke as he saw the tears welling up in his little girl's eyes.

"Oh, baby." he said, stroking her cheek gently, "Mommy hasn't forgotten about you. She's just a little preoccupied with the new baby, is all. The same thing happened when you were born and before you, when Tony was born. Roxie was really jealous of him and he was jealous of you."

"Really?" Samantha asked. Booth nodded.

"Uh-huh. He had that same expression on his face, too. But he warmed up to you, didn't he? After a while, all he wanted to do was hold you and play with you. Roxie was the same when he was born. She was much younger, though. But she still loved him, and she was never forgotten. Just give it a little time, okay?"

Samantha nodded and Booth smiled, kissing her forehead. He looked over at Brennan, who had finished feeding Tommy and was now looking over at him, quizzically. Booth shook his head, before turning back to the little girl in his arms. "Do you wanna hold him now?"

Samantha nodded enthusiastically and Booth grinned, walking over to the bed, before placing her down next to Brennan, who kissed her forehead, before placing Tommy gently in her arms.

"Watch her head." She said, softly, and Samantha nodded, looking down at her baby brother, and smiling.

"Hi, Tommy!" she exclaimed. "I'm your big sister, Samantha. But you can call me Sam, like Tony, or Sammie, like Daddy or Roxie, or Parker. He's our oldest brother. He's at college now, but sometimes he comes to visit. He's really cool. He has a girlfriend. Her name is Emma, and she's our cousin. That might sound weird, but Parker and Emma aren't really related. You see, Parker's Mommy isn't the same person as our Mommy, so he's not really related to her, so it's okay that they're boyfriend and girlfriend. I actually think they might get married. Wouldn't that be cool? Then she'd be our sister and our cousin. It's really confusing but-" Samantha's sentence was cut short when she felt something damp on her lap. She looked down and squealed when she saw a large wet spot on her dress. "EEEWWWWWWW! He PEED on me!" she cried, and Brennan immediately removed Tommy from her arms.

"It's okay, Honey. Just go wash up. Booth, get me some-Booth! Stop laughing! Booth!" Brennan yelled at her husband, who was currently rolling on the floor, laughing so hard, he could barely breath, as Brennan and Samantha both glared at him.

**That is just like Booth, isn't it? XD That actually happened to me when my little sister was born and it happened to her when our niece was born. My dad did the same thing twice, and so did our niece's father. Men are just so immature sometimes. XD Anyways, my bday is coming up soon so some REVIEWS would be much appreciated! (Also a naked Booth at my doorstep, but that's just a pipe dream, sadly)**


	7. Chapter 7

**The inspiration for this chapter came today as I realized just how much my Daddy loves me 3. Enjoy!**

Chapter Seven: True Love

"_Joseph?" Lynne Booth asked her husband as she walked into the room, holding her lower stomach, as in pain. "Do you think you could be a dear and run to the pharmacy for me?"_

_Joseph Booth turned his head towards his wife, in question, annoyed that she was bothering him while he was watching the game. "For what?" he asked, gruffly._

"_Well, it's that time of the month and I need...pads." She whispered the last part so that her two young sons wouldn't be able to hear, but nine-year-old Seeley did, and he turned a disgusted face towards her._

"_Eww!" he exclaimed. "That's gross, Mom!"_

_Joseph slapped the back of Seeley's head, not at all gently. "Quiet, boy!" he yelled, before turning back to his wife. "Why don't you go to the pharmacy yourself and get it?"_

_Lynne frowned. "You heard what the Doctor said. I shouldn't even be moving around right now. I should be in bed, resting. I just came out here to ask-"_

"_Well I ain't going to the damn pharmacy to get you no feminine products!" Joseph boomed._

"_But Joseph-"_

"_Lynne!" A voice called from the kitchen. Hank Booth came out, a towel over his shoulder as he wiped his hands on it. "I thought I told you to stay in bed, Dear. You wouldn't wanna get sicker than you already are."_

"_I know, hank, but it seems I have to run to the pharmacy to pick up-"_

"_Oh, no! I don't think so! You're gonna stay right in that bed! Joseph will go pick up what you need. Won't you, boy?" Hank said, turning to his son, who blatantly ignored him. "I _said_, 'Won't you, boy?'" Still no response. "Aww, who needs 'im! Seeley and I will go pick up what ya need! What is it that you need?" _

_Lynne blushed. "Well it's not that important relly. I'm just-it's that time of month again and I'm almost out of-"_

"_Say no more! Come on, Squirt! Get yer jacket on! We're goin' to the pharmacy! Jared, watch the sauce. Make sure it don't burn or boil over. Okay?"_

"_Okay, Pops!" Five-year-old Jared exclaimed, happy to have some responsibility for once._

"_Thank you so much, Hank. You really don't have to-"_

"_Nonsense!" Hank bellowed. "Yer family! I'm happy to do it fer ya! Now, get on back to bed. Seeley and I will be back in no time! Come on, Squirt!" Hank said, practically pushing a reluctant Seeley out the door._

"_Aw, Pops, do I hafta?" Seeley asked, once they were outside and walking towards the car._

"_Stop whining, boy! She's your mother, and you should be happy to do this for her. God only knows how long she'll be around!"_

_Seeley's eyes widened and he turned to face his grandfather. "Whaddaya mean, Pops?"_

_Hank shook his head. "Nothin'. Just...you should treasure doing these kinds of things for the ones you love, cause you never know how long it lasts. Life goes fast, Seeley boy, don't you forget."_

_Seeley nodded solemnly, remembering the devastating loss of his Grams the year previous and how it had affected his Pops so much. Booth knew his mother was very ill and that he wouldn't have much time with her, so he vowed to treasure every second spent with her and every favor he had to do for her._

"Bones, I have no idea what I'm doing here!" Booth whined into his cell phone as he stood in the Feminine Products aisle in CVS.

"All we asked for was some pads and Midol. How hard is that to find? There's a whole section for it!" Bones replied, angrily. She always had the worst mood swings during her time of the month. Roxie, his oldest daughter, was the exact opposite. She was quite mellow and sluggish during her time, but that usually came with horrible cramps that caused her to stay up all night with pain, unless she had the proper meds, which, to her, was Midol and chocolate.

"Relax, Bones, I know. I'm actually in that section, but I don't know what kinds of pads you guys want. Do you want them to be scented? Unscented? Are wings good? Should I get extra thin? Overnight? I haven't been to the pharmacy to buy pads in a long, long time and my Pops did all the shopping!"

There was a moment of silence, then, "Why were you and Pops buying pads?"

"My mom was having her...you know... and she was sick, so pops dragged me to the pharmacy with him to get her some stuff. He got most everything while I looked at Comics and all that so I have no idea what to buy!"

"Then why'd you offer?" Bones yelled.

"Because I love you two so much, that's why! And when you love somebody enough, this is the sort of thing you do for them!"

Another moment of silence. "I love you, too, Baby." Brennan replied, adoringly. Booth wished that she would remain this way, but, of course, by the time he got home, she'd be in a horrible mood. "Get the Always scented pads with wings. Extra thin, please, and some extra strength Midol. And don't forget the chocolate and peanut butter for me. Roxie would also like a hot water bottle to help ease the cramps until the Midol takes effect."

"Okay. Anything else?" Booth asked, picking up the items she asked for.

"Yes. Can you get me an issue of Anthro Now, and Roxie wants Seventeen and CosmoGirl." Brennan added, smirking at the sound of his groan.

"Fine." Booth sighed, grabbing the magazines off the rack and a couple of car magazines for himself, to ensure his masculinity.

"Thank you, Baby." Brennan said, smiling, before handing the phone to Roxie.

"Thank you, Daddy!" Roxie said into the phone. "I love you!"

"I love you, too, Daffy Duck!" Booth said, before hanging up.

Stepping up to the cashier, he was embarrassed to see that it was a young teenage boy, about Roxie's age, working the register. The boy smirked at his purchases.

"Dude..." he said, "you are _so_ whipped!"

Booth handed over the cash for the purchases and grabbed the bag and change from the pimply teen. "Dude..." he said, sarcastically, "It's called love." Before the boy could respond, Booth strode out the door, rushing to finally get home.

**So, this week is my 'Bitch Week' as I like to call it since for the entire week I am, to put it simply, a bitch to every single person that gets under my skin. (I practically screamed at my teacher for calling on me when I wasn't raising my hand today). And my Daddy, whom I love very much, went out to the pharmacy for me, since I couldn't move due to cramp pain, and brought back pads, Midol (Extra Strength) and chocolate (which I didn't even ASK for!) as well as a get well soon teddy bear (which was practically ripped open when a particularly bad cramp hit) and my favorite magazines. So, needless to say, I have a daddy that loves me very very much. You know how much a man loves you, be it a boyfriend, husband, or any man in your family, when he's willing to get you feminine products. XD. Please REVIEW!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Update! Sorry I've neglected this story for so long but my play is next weekend and my Director has been putting the finishing touches on it for opening night. We still have a loooonnnnggggg way to go, but we're getting there. Anyways, enjoy!**

Chapter Seven: Thunder and Lightning

_Five-year-old Temperance Brennan sat bolt upright as a flash of thunder shone through her Bay widow, illuminating the entire room for a few seconds, before sending her right back into a horrifying darkness that seemed all the more scarier as strong winds rustled the window panes and trees hit the side of the house with spine-tingling scratches. _

_Temperance looked around the room, terrified as she thought she saw something bolt across the room. "Mommy!" She cried, humping out of bed and running into the hall. One in the hall, she found herself confused and disoriented by the darkness, before finding a light at the end of the hall and following it to her older brother's room._

_Peering around the slightly ajar door, Temperance saw her older brother, Russ, passed out in his beanbag chair, the controller to his Nintendo still in his hand and the television still showing the 'Game Over' screen._

_Temperance smiled slightly through her tears before a new clap of thunder sent her bolting for her brother. "Russ!" She cried, shaking his arm as tears fell down her cheeks._

_Russ sat up straight. "Wha-Tempe? What's wrong?"_

"_I'm scared." Temperance said in a small voice and Russ sighed._

"_Of what?" he asked. Just then, there was a loud clap of thunder and Temperance jumped into his lap, her arms flying around his waist as her eyes shut tight against his chest._

"_That!" She cried into his chest._

_Russ chuckled. "Oh, I see." He said, rubbing his baby sister's back, before standing up, Temperance still wrapped around his waist. "Come on, Tempe."_

"_Where are we going?" Temperance asked._

_Russ just smiled, leading her over to his bed, before helping her onto it and getting in himself. After they were both settled under the blankets, Russ propped himself against the head of the bed. "You wanna hear a story?" He asked. Temperance nodded. "Okay, here it goes. There is an island, where the river runs deep...'"_

Brennan sat up in her bed for the third time that night as a particularly loud clap of thunder shook the house.

"Bones?" Her husband mumbled next to her. "What's wrong? Is it the baby?"

Brennan scowled at him. "Don't be ridiculous, Booth! The baby isn't due for two months and the doctors have assured us a perfectly safe pregnancy. It's just this damn thunder that's keeping me awake! I have work tomorrow on an important Civil War-era-"

Brennan was cut off by Booth's mouth on hers. When he pulled back, she was staring quizzically at him. "Sorry." He said, "couldn't resist. You're so cute when you're mad."

Brennan scowled at him and punched his shoulder. "Shut up! I'm a grown woman with three children! I am _not_ cute!"

Booth grinned back and leaned in for another kiss, but was startled back into place with an exceptionally loud clap of thunder rung out through the house.

"Hmm..." Brennan said.

"What?" Booth asked.

"Well, I've noticed that during storms like this one, Tony and Samantha are usually in our room by now, cowering under the covers, while Roxy can sleep through just about anything. I wonder why they're not here now..."

Booth's eyes widened in fear. "Do you think something happened to them?"

Brennan chuckled softly. "Like what, Booth? We already have one of the best security systems in the entire Capital and you trained Delphi to attack any intruders. Who could possibly get to our children?"

"I dunno, Bones. There are ways!" Booth said, standing up, and walking to his dresser, where he kept his pistol.

Brennan sighed. "I think you may be overreacting to something that's really not that much of a big deal, Booth."

"Yeah? Well, better safe than sorry, Bones. Nobody's getting to my little girls, or my baby boy."

Brennan chuckled. "Tony would kill you if he heard you say that."

Booth grinned. "That's my boy. Now, stay here while I go check on them."

"Are you kidding?" Brennan asked with a straight face. "I'm not staying here if my children are in danger. I'm coming with you." Brennan stood up and walked over to stand beside him.

Booth was about to protest but one look from her told him that he shouldn't even bother, so instead he lead her out into the hallway, which was illuminated by a flash of lightning.

As they walked down the hall, Booth kept the gun aimed ahead of them, should any intruder attempt to jump out at them.

Once they got to the room Samantha and Tony shared, Booth pushed the door open, and his heart raced as he saw that their beds were empty. "Sammy? Tony?" He whispered, checking under the beds and in the closet to see if they were hiding from the storm. It wouldn't be the first time.

They weren't there.

"Where could they be?" Brennan asked behind him.

Just then they heard a loud gasp coming from their oldest daughter, Roxy's, room. Booth and Brennan quickly made their way over and pushed open the door.

Their eyes widened at what they saw.

Roxy was laying in the middle of her bed with Tony and Samantha on either side of her.

"And Papa Ge appeared out of thin air and spoke to Ti Moune. He said-" she was cut off when she saw her parents standing in the doorway. "Hey, Mom. Daddy. What's wrong?" she said, noticing the pistol.

Booth was quick to hide it. "Nothing!" He said. "What are you guys doing in here?"

"Oh, well Tony and Sammy were scared of the thunder and lightning so they came in here and asked me to tell them a story. I thought we were being pretty quiet."

Brennan smiled. "You're telling them the story I used to tell you, aren't you? The one Russ used to tell me."

Roxy nodded. "It's my favorite." She smiled widely, her bright blue eyes sparkling.

Brennan nodded and took a seat at the end of the bed, where Delphi was sleeping. "By all means, continue." she said, laying herself down in a comfortable position."

"Okay. Daddy, do you wanna hear it, too?" Roxy asked Booth, who was still standing dumbstruck in the doorway.

"Uh...sure, baby." he said, putting the pistol down on a high shelf so none of the children could see or reach it and making himself comfortable at the end of the bed, next to Bones. "Proceed." He said and Roxy nodded.

"Now, where was I?" she asked Samantha.

"Papa Ge showed up." Samantha said.

"That's right. Papa Ge appeared out of thin air and said to Ti Moune, 'You made me a promise which I demand you keep.' and he raised his knife high above Ti Moune..."

**Can you guess which play this is. If you guess right, a naked Booth or Bones (whichever you prefer) will show up, naked, at your door, with a try of cookies to make all your wildest dreams come true. Please REVIEW!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I know it's been a while but I am back, baby! At least for a little while...Anyways, enjoy!**

Chapter Nine: Girls

"_Hi, Miri!" eight-year old Seeley Booth greeted his next-door neighbor, a young girl who was about a year older than him. "Wanna come over and play?"_

_Miri smiled and nodded, from her place on the swing. "Okay. Let me just tell my mom and I'll be right over. Okay?"_

"_'kay. Seeya soon." Seeley said, turning back to his house._

_Within two minutes Miri had asked her mother and they were playing out in Seeley's backyard, on the tire swing. Miri was laying on her stomach in the tube and Seeley was pushing her while she giggled happily._

"_Higher!" she commanded and Booth complied, becoming tired quickly._

"_When's...it gonna...be my turn?" he huffed._

"_Boyfriends don't get a turn!" Miri said simply, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world._

_Seeley stopped pushing at once and stared at her. "Boyfriend?" he asked as Miri's back-end shoved him to the floor with a loud, "Oof!"_

_Miri stopped swinging immediately and hopped off the swing. "Seeley!" she cried, running to kneel at his side. "Are you okay?"_

_The world seemed to be spinning as Seeley looked up into the face of the two...no, three? little curly-haired blondes. He blinked a few times until there was only one Miri, before speaking. "Since when am I your boyfriend?"_

_Miri shrugged. "Beats me. But my big sister says that when you hang out a lot with a boy, like we do, he becomes your boyfriend. So I think that's what we are." she explained, matter-of-factly._

"_Umm, okay..." Seeley said, sitting up. They were silent for a moment. "So, now what do we do?" He asked._

"_Nothing that we haven't been doing already." Miri said, standing upand getting back on the tire swing. "Now, push me higher than before." she commanded._

_Booth scowled. "No way! It's my turn!" He argued._

"_Boyfriends don't get turns! I already told you that." Miri repeated her words from before._

"_But that's not fair!" Seeley whined._

"_Yes, it is! We're boyfriend and girlfriend now, and the boyfriend is supposed to push the girlfriend on the swings...and he shouldn't complain!"_

"_But-"_

"_You know what? If you don't like it, then maybe we shouldn't be boyfriend and girlfriend anymore!" Miri exploded at him, jumping off the swing and storming through the gate._

_Seeley just stared after her, dazed. _

What just happened?_ He thought to himself. _

Booth was sitting at the dining room table, looking over all the utility bills that he still had yet to pay. All he really had to do was write the checks up and mail them but he was having trouble concentrating from the screams coming from the other room as Tony and Roxy played with Joy, who was over for the day.

"Will you kids be quiet in there! I'm trying to focus over here!" Booth yelled.

They were silent for all of two seconds before they started shouting again.

Booth groaned and leaned back in his chair as Brennan came in, carrying a sleeping Samantha in her arms.

She leaned down to kiss him on the cheek, before resting her chin on his forehead, Samantha nestled in the crook of her arm. "Frustrated?" she asked and he nodded, before taking his baby girl out of her arms.

"Nothing my little Sammie can't fix." Booth said, nuzzling the baby's nose softly with his own. Brennan pouted teasingly, and Booth smiled. "Or my gorgeous wife." he said, pulling her into his embrace and kissing her sweetly, careful not to disturb the baby girl in his arms.

Brennan smiled, returning the kiss. "I'm glad we could cheer you up." she said, when they came up for air.

Booth grinned. "Oh, baby, you have no idea." Booth said, leaning in to kiss her when they heard a loud groan from behind them.

"Yuck! You guys are gross!" Tony said from the doorway. Booth and Brennan looked at each other and smiled lovingly before Brennan got up and took Samantha who'd been awakened and was now fussing about in her arms, while a worried Delphi sat at her feet, as if worried about the baby girl.

"I'm just gonna go change Samantha and see if she'll eat anything. She's really been a very fussy eater lately." Brennan explained, tickling Samantha's belly and the little girl stopped fussing enough to give a small coo.

"Like mother, like daughter." Booth remarked.

Brennan scowled. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"Nothing, Bones. Go feed Sammy, then bring her down to play with Daddy for a while." Booth grinned like a little kid at the thought of playing with his baby girl.

"Maybe after you finish paying the bills." Brennan replied and Booth pouted.

"But, Bo-ones!" he whined like a child who was told he needed to finish all his vegetables before he got any desert.

"No buts, Booth. You don't play with Sammy until those bills are paid."

"But-"

"Do you need a time-out?" Brennan said, seriously, placing one hand on her hip. If it weren't for the twitching corners of her mouth Booth would have thought that was seriously going to put him in a time-out.

Booth grinned devilishly. "_May_be..." he said, winking.

Brennan rolled her eyes and turned to walk out of the room, calling over her shoulder, "You're not getting Sammy, or anything _else_, until you finish those bills." before she walked completely out of the room, swaying her hips a bit as she turned, just to torture him a bit more.

Booth sighed and turned back to the bills laid out in front of him, when he heard his son sigh in the chair across from him.

Booth ignored him at first but then Tony sighed twice more, in an exaggerated fashion. Booth glanced up. "Everything okay, Bud?"

Tony shrugged, as if he didn't want to talk, but his brown eyes told a different story. "Come on, Tony. You know you can tell your old man anything."

Tony looked at him quizzically. "You're not that old, Daddy."

Booth grinned. _So literal, just like his Mother_. "Thanks, Bud, but by 'old man' I just meant father. It's a saying."

"Oh." Tony responded, nodding his head in understanding.

"So, what's up, Little Man?"

"Nothing. It's just..." Tony hesitated.

"Just..._what_?" Booth asked.

"You and Mom are in love, right?" Tony asked, suddenly, blushing as soon as the question was out of his mouth.

Booth grinned, thinking of his Bones. "Yeah, Buddy. We love each other very much."

"Well how did you know when you guys loved each other?"

"Well, I don't know about your mom, but I fell in love with her the second our eyes first met. She may have fallen in love then, too, or somewhere along the way. Why do you ask?"

"I think I might be in love." Tony said, cradling his chin in his hands as he rested his elbows on the table.

"Love?" Booth asked, incredulously, "You're barely five years old!"

Tony shrugged. "So? There's no age-limit to love, Dad." His tone was as serious as Brennan's when she was explaining something completely scientific and Booth almost burst out laughing, but restrained himself, knowing that his laughter would probably offend his young son.

"Who are you in love with?" Booth asked.

Tony blushed deep red, before leaning in and whispering, so low that Booth had to strain to catch it, "Joy."

A grin broke out on Booth's face. Angela had been right all those years ago, when she predicted that their kids would be the ones to officially join their two families. Now his son and her daughter (possibly, he really didn't know if Joy felt the same way) were in love, and so young, too. He doubted the feelings would last, but just maybe...Booth shook his head. The children were five-years old, barely old enough to dress themselves. They couldn't possibly grasp the idea of romantic love yet. But, still, he decided to humor his son.

"Does Joy feel the same way?" Booth asked, whispering so that the girls playing in the other room wouldn't hear.

Tony shrugged. "I dunno."

"You haven't said anything to her about your feelings?" Booth asked, incredulously.

Tony shook his head. "Huh-uh."

"Well, why not? Don't you think she deserves to know?"

"I guess so but Aunt Angie told me that you waited five _years_ to tell Mom how you felt, and you two still acted like morons."

"Hey!"

"I'm just repeating Aunt Angie." Tony defended. He really was too smart for his age.

"So, what are you planning on doing then? She has a right to know. Don't make the same mistake I did. I almost ruined _everything_."

"How?"

"That story is for another day, when you're older. Now, why don't you go in there and tell your girl how you feel."

"Mommy says no man can _own_ a woman and if I ever tried to do just that she'd..."

"She'd _what_?" Booth asked, horrified.

"I dunno. She never finished."

Booth shook his head. "Whatever, then. Go tell Joy how you feel."

"I can't!"

"Why not? I can assure you, she will not bite." _Though, she _is_ Angela's daughter._

"Cuz of Roxy."

"What about her?"

"Every time Roxy is around, Joy acts like I have some sort of disease, but then when Roxy leaves the room, Joy acts all sweet and funny, until Roxy comes back."

"Well, she's still a little girl and you're her best friend's little brother, kiddo. Boys still have cooties to her and Roxy, especially to Roxy. You just gotta give her a little time. Okay?"

Tony nodded, sighing. "Okay. Dad?"

"Yeah, Bud?" Booth responded, absentmindedly, going over the bills on the table.

"Girls are weird."

"Tell me about it."

**Hope you liked that! Please REVIEW!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Update!**

Chapter Ten: Learning

"_Daddy?" five-year old Temperance Brennan asked her father, climbing into his lap as he watched television. _

"_Yes, Pumpkin?" Matthew Brennan asked his little girl._

"_What language do deaf people speak?" Tempe's eyes were sparkling with curiosity._

"_Well, Sweetheart, actually most deaf people can't speak. But they can communicate through their hands with sign language." Matthew explained._

"_Oh." Tempe said. "Daddy?"_

"_Yes, dear?"_

"_Do you know sign language?"_

_Matthew nodded. "Yes, I do. A few of my brighter students are deaf so I had to learn."_

"_Can you teach me, then?" Tempe asked._

_Matthew smiled. "Of course I will, Baby." _

"How do you say, 'Puppy'?" Roxy Booth asked her mother.

Brennan pat her leg twice and Roxy copied.

"Very good." Brennan said as Delphi came to rest her head in her lap. Brennan had already taught the dog sign language and was now teaching Tony, Roxy, and Joy to speak sign.

"How does Delphi know sign?" Joy asked.

"Mommy and Daddy taught her so that if they have an emergency where they can't speak, then they can communicate with Delphi." Roxy explained, very much in the fashion of her adoptive mother.

"Oh." Joy said, simply, practicing the words Brennan had already taught her.

Just then, Booth walked in, kissing his wife and children hello. "Hey, Bones. Hey, Daffy Duck. Hey, Tony Boy. Hi, Joy Joy." Booth kissed his Goddaughter's forehead.

"Hi, Uncle Booth!" Joy greeted, while Roxy and Tony attacked his legs.

"Hi, Booth." Brennan said, standing up and kissing him softly.

"What are you guys doing?" Booth asked, bring Roxy into his arms to rest on his hip.

"Mommy's teaching us sign language." Roxy informed him.

"Really?" Booth asked, intrigued.

"Yep! Mommy thought that since she knows it, we should too!" Tony said.

"Really, they just asked me and my father taught me sign language when I was five years old, so I thought it shouldn't be too hard to teach them now. Especially since they're so bright. You have to remind me to teach Parker."

"Will do." Booth said, putting his free arm around his wife and kissing her cheek, before putting Roxy on the floor and prying Tony off his leg and signing to Delphi, "Food."

Delphi followed enthusiastically and Booth grinned. "I love this." He said, before walking with the dog into the kitchen.

Brennan chuckled and sat back on the floor. "Okay, what else do you want to learn to say?"

**OMG! Did y'all see the finale! I wuz soooo excited! I still am! I just can't believe it! Anyways, please REVIEW!**


	11. Chapter 11

**So sorry it's been so long since I last updated this but I've had other stories plus I start working at Johnny Rocket's tomorrow (=D) and I've had training, so I haven't done too much updating on my later stories. Anyways, I'm planning on updating all my stories in one sitting. Enjoy!**

Chapter Eleven: Pets

"_Daddy?" six-year-old Temperance Brennan asked her father._

_Max's eyes widened. He knew that tone of voice. His daughter had another question. That couldn't be good. "Yes, Sweetheart?" he asked, tentatively._

"_Can we get a pig?" Temperance asked, bluntly._

"_A pig?" Max asked, perplexed. "Now, why would you want one of those?"_

"_Because they're clean, good natured, and obedient. And I want a pet." Temperance replied, instilling everything she'd learned about pigs from the books she read._

"_Why not a fish? Or a hamster?" Max asked._

"_Because fish are not very exciting and hamsters smell funny. Pigs are fun to play with and they smell okay." Temperance explained as if it were the most obvious thing in the world._

"_But pigs can get big, Sweetheart. Why don't we get you a kitten? Or a small dog?" Max suggested._

"_I'd rather have a pig. Besides, Russ is allergic to cats." Temperance pointed out._

"_Well, I can't guarantee your mother will be happy with a real live pig. Can't I just get you a stuffed one?" Max suggested, hopefully._

"_That would be more boring than a fish." Temperance pouted._

_Max sighed and pulled his young daughter into his arms. "I know, Tempe, but we can't get a real pig right now. We don't have much space for it and with your brother, well we have enough enough wildlife, don't you think?"_

"_I heard that!" Russ called from the other room, making Temperance giggle._

_Max laughed, too. "I promise I'll talk to your mother about maybe getting a pet for you kids one day. Just not anytime soon, okay?"_

_Temperance nodded in understanding. "Okay." she accepted._

_Max smiled, kissing her forehead. "You really are something, you know that? You're so smart."_

_Temperance smiled. "I'm aware." _

_Max laughed. "And that vocabulary! You take after me, you know." He said, carrying her into the other room, raving about her intelligence, like any proud father would._

Brennan sat at her desk, at work, staring at the small figurine pig currently sitting on her computer, when her husband walked in, dragging two little bodies on his legs, another on his back, and a fourth in his arms. "Hey, Bones." he grunted, coming to a stop in front of her. "Okay, kids, this is where you get off." Booth announced and three of the four bodies jumped off of him and ran to their mother who came out of her thoughts long enough to hug and kiss them all hello.

"Mommy!" could be heard throughout the entire lab. Brennan laughed as she was attacked by three sets of arms and as many sets of lips.

"Hello, Roxy. Hello, Tony. Hello, Samantha." She greeted, kissing each of her children in turn.

Booth came over with Tommy, who reached out towards his mother, in his arms. "Ma! Ma!" Tommy shouted, with his arms out in front of him.

"Hi, Baby." she said, taking her youngest out of Booth's arms and kissing him hello, before kissing her husband, sweetly, on the lips.

The kiss was cut short by a rude, "Ew!" coming from both Tony and Roxy, who were covering their eyes.

Brennan smiled at them. "You know, all the Hodgins family are here. Why don't you take Tommy and Samantha and go play? We'll be out shortly to take you all to dinner." Brennan suggested.

Tony smiled, grabbing Samantha's hand while Roxy took Tommy and lead them all out of Brennan's office, towards Angela's to see their friends.

Closing the door behind them, Booth turned to his wife, smiling blindingly before grabbing her around the waist and kissing her, passionately. When they pulled back, it was only to catch their breath. "What was that for?" Brennan asked, though she wasn't really complaining.

"Are you kidding? I've been waiting to do that since we left the house this morning, but with work...you know."

Brennan nodded. She did know. They'd had case after case with no breaks for the last three weeks, therefore there was no time for quality time. It seemed to be some sort of killing spree keeping them apart these days. "Well, that's all over with, so now what do you suppose we do to celebrate?"

Booth grinned. "I have a few ideas." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Brennan chuckled, kissing him again. "Do any of these plans involve a pig?"

Booth furrowed his brow. He was definitely _not_ expecting that response. "A pig?"

Brennan nodded. "It seems Samantha is more like me than we thought. She's been asking nonstop for the last two weeks if we could get a pig. I haven't given it much thought until now, but I admit, I like the idea."

Booth chuckled. "God, help me." He said, burying his head into her shoulder. "_This_ is why I call her Mini-Bones. She's like your clone. Before you know it she's gonna be confusing her teachers with her strange vocabulary and perplexing scientists with her theories."

"That's absurd, Booth...my theories aren't perplexing. Anybody could understand them. Even you." she teased.

"Oh ho ho! Bones is so funny!" Booth teased right back, kissing her nose.

Brennan pouted. "I hate it when you kiss my nose."

Booth chuckled. "Sorry, couldn't resist." He kissed her lips this time. "So, a pig, huh?"

Brennan nodded. "Yes. A pig. They're very clean, and we can get a miniature one."

"There's miniature pigs?" Booth asked, in surprise.

Brennan nodded. "Mmhmm. They can be sold as pets. They're very cute. I think Samantha would like one."

"What would we name it? Jasper?" Booth said, eying the little pig on her desk.

Brennan laughed. "Possibly...though I suspect Samantha might want to name it."

Booth nodded. "Probably. She'll probably name it Pygmalion or something scholarly like that."

"Pygmalion is a book. One which I doubt our six-year-old has ever even heard of before."

"Always gotta contradict me, don't you?"

"Yes." Brennan laughed as Booth attacked her neck with tickling kisses.

A week later found them at a farm they frequented when the kids had no school and wanted to see the animals at the petting zoo on the farm.

Brennan had called ahead to make sure that they had the type of pig they wanted and after confirming that they did, they packed up all the kids into the SUV, a tight fit for a family of six, and drove the thirty minutes it took to get there.

When they finally arrived the owner took them to a small sty in the back, where a litter(?) of piglets were rolling around in mud and running around, almost joyously. "Here they are." the farmer said, "take your pick, little lady!"

Samantha smiled at all the piglets playing and running around, trying to decide which to choose. Finally she settled on a female piglet that was rolling around in the mud, to her father's dismay. "I want that one!" she announced.

The farmer chuckled. "Well, that's a fine choice. We call this one Stella, but you can give her any name you want of course." he said walking over to the piglet and picking her up out of the puddle. "Let me just go get her all nice and clean so she don't ruin your Daddy's nice car."

Booth smiled. "That would be much appreciated." he said, sighing with relief.

The farmer chuckled, taking the piglet away for a moment to clean up.

When he returned, the piglet was wrapped in a small blue cotton blanket. He placed her in Samantha's arms. "Now, take care of her, ya hear? She's just like a baby. You gotta treat her nicely." Samantha nodded, solemnly. "Thatta' girl. Now, what do you suppose you're gonna call her?"

"I think Stella sounds like a good name." Samantha said, smiling.

The farmer nodded. "That, it is." he said.

Samantha smiled. "Thank you, sir." she said, before walking over her mother to show her the new pet.

Booth shook the farmer's hand. "Thanks, Stan. How much do we owe you?"

"An even $200. It's usually more, but the look on little Sammie's face is enough to lower the price. You got yerself a nice family there, Seeley." Stan replied.

"Thanks, Stan. It was nice doing business with you." Booth said handing over the money.

"Trust me, Seeley. It was much nicer on this end." Stan looked over to where Samantha was cradling Stella like a baby, while her mother knelt next to her, admiring the small creature.

**Hope that was a sufficient chapter for such a long break. Please REVIEW!**


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